my birthday money is burning a hole in my pocket and i was planning on buying a plate chiller.
i had planned on picking up the therminator, but as i look around, i see these compact 30 plate chillers for a hundred bucks cheaper....
anybody have any thoughts on these?
as you know, i don't go too crazy with my home brewery, so i just don't know if i need the top of the line unit. another point is that i have missouri well water......its very cold year round. i am doing ten gallon batches, but if the compact 30 can chill that in 10-15 minutes, then it is totally fine in my book. i will not be using a pump, but both are apparently fine with being gravity fed.
has anyone used one of these?

also, should i go with 3/8 hose or 1/2"? i see where most need to restrict the flow of wort using the valve on the kettle, so not sure why you would want 1/2" hose if you already have to restrict flow, but many use 1/2 it seems.